The Daily Beast: Can You Be Good Without God?

My newest article is up at The Daily Beast (“Can You Be Good Without God?“); it focuses on a recent study that says that atheists are more likely—according to their unconscious biases—to believe that the religious are more moral than those who do not believe in God.

In this one, I interview several individuals—including the study’s author (Will M. Gervais), and nonbelievers Richard Dawkins, James Croft (Ethical Society of St. Louis), Monette Richards (Secular Woman and Center for Inquiry in Cleveland, Ohio), Maggie Ardiente (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty), and Sarah Chandonnet (Humanist Hub)—to see what they think.

A recent study (of more than 3,000 people in 13 countries) published in the journal Nature Human Behavior echoes Voltaire’s maxim. Looking at intuitive thinking—presumptions drawn by individuals through unconscious biases—researchers led by Will M. Gervais, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, discovered that most individuals intuitively conclude that a serial killer is more likely to be an atheist (approximately 60 percent) than religious (approximately 30 percent)….